you put the debt ceiling off for a few months. now you start discussing those automatic spending cuts known as a still questionnaire. they want to get this on what they call their home turf and basically talk about spending. they want to move the spending cuts conversation up and continued that through the debt ceiling. there are these number of deadlines coming up. by doing this, they move up the spending that conversation. they hope to get the ball rolling there and hope to continue that through the next round of debt ceiling talks. remember, neil, there are two issues that the rating agencies are looking for, they want an orderly increase of the debt ceiling. they say no strings attached. you go further down into those press releases and they are saying, we want a budget deal, this year, 2013. that is something that republicans are looking for and that is something they hope to secure out of all of this. neil: peter barnes, if you are still with me, too, i want to bring you into this. secretary of state hillary clinton with joh